Journalism

In the era of “fake news”, youth media organizations from all over California came together for the 2018 Youth Media Statewide Conference to sharpen their skills in journalism. This event was held in Oakland between February 17th – 18th at the Waterfront Hotel and was hosted by Youth Radio, a nonprofit media production company, an institution that prepares young people for the 21st-century digital workplace. The conference consisted of speakers and their experiences as freelance journalists, workshops on topics concerning photojournalism techniques and social media management, and networking opportunities.

So why is it important for young reporters to learn skills about media literacy and journalism? In light of the 2016 election, many American consumers of digital news and social media are aware of fake news and many young reporters in California are working to combat that with training in media literacy and in the production of quality, reputable local news.

“I really enjoyed meeting other youth media programs at the conference,” said Jazmine Justice-Young, a fellow youth media reporter. “I think my team and I learned a lot from the workshops they had that we’ll be taking back with us.”

Various workshops were provided to train young reporters to create quality news content. Erika Aguilar, a Podcast Producer and Reporter of KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, and Laura Klivans, a Community Health Reporter of KQED Public Radio who is also stationed in San Francisco, gave lessons in podcasting – and what different formats they consist of in terms of the level of production – as well as some techniques to ensure maximum audio standards for the audience’s experience.

Noah Berger, a freelance photographer who works for national and international news outlets such as the Associated Press, Reuters, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times, did a presentation concerning his experiences, techniques, and ethics of photojournalism. He demonstrated hands-on lighting techniques and discussed the best approaches to covering protests and other potentially-risky assignments.

Annie Yu, an Audience Engagement Editor of the L.A. Times, taught strategies of using social media in journalism to be more engaging to the audience. The basics include making a social media plan for a story, leading crowdsourcing campaigns, and building an audience.

The 2018 Youth Media Conference was overall a success as many youth reporters learned from experienced journalists and the training and support provided by the conference helped to sharpen the skills needed to be a credible, self-sufficient journalist.

On February 17th and 18th, there was a two-day conference for youth who are involved in journalism programs throughout the state. The conference had workshops which were lead by professionals from the field, as well as key-note speakers that shared their wisdom about journalism. Young people from all over California came to Oakland for this event, and this video features a taste of how their programs are run.

Instead of trying to tell you to not procrastinate, I will tell you how to do it because procrastination is almost inevitable. First thing first, do not worry about the project assigned to you until nine hours before it is due. Second, drink five cups of coffee and panic really hard. Third, throw together some sloppy work as fast as possible. And there, you have successfully procrastinated! But in all seriousness, procrastination will make your job very hard. Do not treat your assignment as homework but rather as duties you must fulfill. That is what helped me, I hope you found that useful.

Being a journalist is not only an opportunity but also a responsibility. There are many things I learned while working at accesslocal.tv over the summer that has improved me as a person and as a content producer. I wish to pass the things I have learned to you, the future Neighborhood News Correspondent. The biggest thing above all is to be yourself. Being yourself is what allows the articles and videos you produce to be unique. There are general guidelines to how you should make content but there are no rules that are set in stone. Every article you write and video you make will improve your skills as a journalist. It is a continuous learning experience that does not stop unless you decide to stop. I hope you will always grow when you are with the team.

There are many realities to the world. People are born differently, raised differently, know things differently. My time as a Neighborhood News Correspondent has allowed me to explore those realities that were not my own. I remember my first video I did about the Summer of Service. To me, it was a program that I have grown up with and kept me out of trouble. To other students, it was an essential part of their life. Their parents have to work year round, especially those from low-income households and do not have time to spend with their children. The Summer of Service offers a home to those kids when school is out. That video was the beginning of my journey to learn more about the world and myself.

Me During a Youth Conference

I learn that sometimes it is not just enough to put yourself in other people’s shoes. There is a more complex process to understand people and why they do what they do. Through these stories, through spending time with them, very often the entire day, I learned to know what they experience. It is when I sit down to write an article about them or make a video, that I start contemplating the deeper meaning behind their work. Whether it’s a local youth action group, legislation, or a community event, there is always a deeper story to be told, the story of South Sacramento.
To the future Neighborhood News Correspondents, I have advice for you. This internship makes you a journalist, it gives you power and opportunity under your command that many don’t have. Don’t be afraid to question anything. Do not accept the norm as it is and never accept the answer of “it has always been this way.” Be creative in your work and express all you have to yourself to demonstrate that you care about your project. It is through that process can you come to enjoy being a journalist. My biggest advice is, do not be afraid. If you are naturally shy, this program is an odyssey for you to become brave. If you are naturally brave, this program will take you to heights you never know you could go.

AccessLocal proved to be a much richer and more multifaceted experience than the simple news job I took it for at first. I learned this at our first meeting, when instead of stepping into the sophisticated and austere television studio I was interviewed in, I found myself sitting at a table of journalists my age with EDM playing in the background. This environment wasn’t to be mistaken as lax, I quickly learned, but rather a professional environment for a discussion designed to make the news correspondents feel at ease enough to discuss stories and relevant topics comfortably as they would outside of a ‘job’. My wonderful boss, Isaac Gonzalez, led the assignment sections and relevant discussions with a calm tone, maintaining the balance between professional and colloquial.

The first project alone sent me into the deep end of filming, editing and writing an article on a deadline with only the bare essential tools to guide me: a short tutorial video playlist for filming, iMovie and basic journalism tactics, an iPod touch equipped with iMovie, and a microphone and camera attachments to make a viable filming device. The prompt was simply: what is your community?

While I was pleased with the result, the process of making the video was a complete disaster. I spent half a day figuring out iMovie and planning the clip arrangements for the final product. I submitted my report right on the nose of the deadline and wished I had more of a plan going into the project to better know what I was doing.

These steps were absolutely critical to my progress as a Neighborhood News Correspondent. I learned more from arranging my friends to talk about what they thought about our community and the first 30 minutes of tampering with iMovie than I did in the whole hour of tutorial videos that were the entirety of my education in journalism.

I’m beyond grateful for the independent and self-reliant method of learning that Isaac and AccessLocal based the program on. In four months I’ve gone to city hall meetings, an art exhibition and an art workshop, a protest at the state capital, and even a gun show where I pressed tough questions to a reclusive and closed audience. If the program would have spent all that time on the textbook approach of teaching me how to film, how not to film, who to film, what to focus on and so on, I would never have really learned how to film in the way I did. I picked all of these skills up through doing the work assigned to me, and Isaac was always there to give advice and strategies if I was unsure. I now know how to cover stories confidently and have months of experience doing so. The paychecks were gravy on top of what I’ve gained from all of this.

I could not recommend AccessLocal more to anyone interested in journalism, writing, filming, debate or even public-speaking. Whether or not I choose to pursue journalism as a career, I am immensely grateful for the opportunity I was provided and the valuable, interdisciplinary skills I gained. I would like to thank my coworkers: the outgoing and amiable Levi Harvey, the quietly confident and ever-friendly Ivan Caballero, the understated and brilliant Dominique Mejia, the bold, hilarious and completely unique Bruce Tran, and most of all my boss, the attentive, caring, engaging and one-of-a-kind Isaac Gonzalez. I would also like to thank Gary Martin from our parent company for seeing something to let me into this amazing program. Good luck future Neighborhood News Correspondents!

For the past few months I’ve been working for Access local.TV as a neighborhood news correspondent. Although the experience was short lived, I can certainly say that the skills that I’ve gained from working here and the people I’ve met have really helped me to branch out my abilities as a content creator.

Prior to my time here I had no real world experience as a journalist outside of school. I was very shy to simply show up to a place or an event as part of the media. I wasn’t comfortable with capturing footage or photography of the event and interviewing key participants in the story. But since working as a journalist for access local, I’ve become incredibly more comfortable with being on the scene and more confident as a journalist. On top of that I’ve also written many articles and have continued to do what it is that I do best, which is producing and editing videos.

Although I still have much to master in the realm of writing, just being able to say that I have experience in journalism is important to me and to my resume. As for any advice that I would give to any future neighborhood news correspondents, I would say to always give your best effort in every written work or video made, as each piece reflects who you are as a creator or as a digital media producer.

My name is Ivan Caballero. I’m 17 years old and I’ve been working with Accesslocal.tv since July 2015. That’s more than a year. It’s been a long time; but with a lot of time, comes a lot of experience. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Isaac Gonzalez and the rest of the team. Prior to working here, my knowledge of writing was fairly limited. I am still not the best writer in the world but I am certain that I’m much better than I was before.

Looking back, checking out my very first article, I feel that I havegreatly improved my writing skills My speed and how I write my articles has progressed all thanks to this program. It’s become something that I actually love to do. As I have said in past articles about myself, I have had tremendous pressure from my family put on me. This job has given me the courage to show to everyone who doubted me that maybe I can pull off my dreams.

It’s a great feeling to be able to do better than what people expected of me. This is just the beginning. Accesslocal.tv has built me a step on the staircase of my dream. I feel that I must continue to pursue this career of journalism that I have so greatly come to love.

Working with this team of people has been a blast. They’re a very sophisticated and nice group of people. They’ve taught me a lot in the time I’ve worked here, mainly by guiding me morally. I’ve developed a very strong relationship with them and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to do so.

This work has allowed me to gain a sense of confidence that I never thought that I’d have. This work has changed me in so many ways, but it’s all for the better. I feel like I have become an independent young man who is now so much more aware of the real world.

My favorite article though from all this time still is one of my early ones. It’s my report on Donald Trump’s deportation plan. In that article I explained the specifics of the situations on a medical level, such as how this would affect the local area of Sacramento medically. It was basically a short summary on how Donald Trump’s deportation plan would make Sacramento sick because illegal immigrants would fear going to hospitals to avoid being deported. Immigrants not being able to go to the hospital could lead to widespread illnesses being spread. Coming from a Mexican family that has witnessed the horrors of when it comes to deportation, I can see why my family and other would be afraid to go to the hospital and avoid deportation.

The advice that I would give to future participants is pretty simple- Just relax. Don’t stress yourself too hard, you’re going to be fine. I know most people are very weary of scoring interviews with people but believe me, you got it. Just ask. If they say no, then they say no. If they say yes, you got yourself an interview! Now before going out to ask someone for an interview, it’s a good idea to at least have written down an idea of what you want to ask.

When you’re out making a video, take more footage than you need! If you think you have enough, you don’t. Take more! This has always been a common problem with me that I take way less footage than I need, thus making me work harder while editing. It’s best to work hard on the spot to make your work easier later. Take lots of pictures as well. Pictures make for a great showcase in your articles and videos. So get snapping.

You must have fun. There’s no point of doing a job if you don’t have fun, besides paying bills of course. Even when you’re finding it really hard to make a video or write an article, just keep your head up. Don’t be like me who stresses too much and ends up messing something up. Take your assignments as an adventure and not like a chore. Go out and explore your adventure.

Finally, this job has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. It has given me a clear headed view of what I really want to do with my life. I hope that I can continue to move and pursue this career further. I would like to thanks Isaac (my boss) for giving me the amazing opportunity to work with him and the program. I consider Isaac as a father figure of mine that I can look up to. That for me is a great feeling. This program has given me something that nothing else has; and that’s the knowledge that I will carry for the rest of my life.

As I’m going for my third term for Accesslocal.tv, I’ve talked about my definition of community; the Meadowview area. In this video, I’ve changed things and decided to talk about my definition of community and what it means to me.

My name is Ivan Caballero and I’ve worked with Isaac Gonzalez in this program for 11 months now. I’ve learned a lot throughout my time here. I’ve learned how to become a real journalist and writer. It has further pushed my career as an aspiring journalist. I’m very thankful to this program for the knowledge I have acquired.

I’ve noticed that people take me a bit more serious when they learn that I am a Neighborhood News Correspondent. It makes my life so much easier and makes my completion of work so much faster. When I began working for Accesslocal.Tv, I was hardly interested in journalism, I was in it more for the video production aspect of working this job.

Two months in to the program, I began to gain a passion for journalism. I started to recognize the complexity that comes with writing and reporting. That complexity, it’s what made me fall in love with journalism. Just a year ago, I was aspiring to become a movie director; that changed after I began working journalism. Making videos is still my favorite part of this job and will possibly always be since I’m so invested in cinematography.

I’m a 17 year old student with a passion for photography, cinematography, journalism, and comic books. Photography and cinematography being at my core. There is a very popular idiom that says “A picture is worth a thousand words.” For me that is true for the most part. I never know if the picture I take of someone will be used in the future over and over again. Who knows if a picture of mine will be referenced 100 years in the future past my time? Quite figuratively, I would be talking for centuries through the message of an image.

Currently in my family, I am the only one who is interested in media work. For my parents, it’s an absolute odd idea that one of their children is working on a career which is so ambitious. I often have to reassure them that maybe I’ve got a chance. I have friends that have been helping me along the way and who I’ve been returning the favor for. I won’t deny that pursuing a career in media is hard, But I just have to have confidence in myself to accomplish this long dream of mine.

I am hoping that I will have another amazing four months working here at AccesslocalTv and I hope I find a job similar to this one in the near future. And I’m excited to see where this term takes me.

On Tuesday, May 3, 2016, Access Sacramento will be participating in the Big Day of Giving; A 24-hour on-line giving event for non-profit orgranizations. Access Sacramento is a proud media partner in the Sacramento Regional Foundation’s BIG Day of Giving, highlighting the great work of nonprofits across our community.

Access Sacramento has positively touched the lives of thousands of households across the Sacramento community with our cable television and radio programming that supports freedom of speech, local filmmaking, the arts, and promotes diverse cultural awareness – We’re Making a Difference, One Voice at a Time.

With our mascot Quentin Sacrametno’s help, Access Sacramento plans to make a BIG splash too. In case you missed it, check out Quentin’s dramatic rescue of a local gym patron.

Be our hero and help us raise our goal of $10,000 in those 24-hours. Your support will help us continue our ongoing effort to enrich our community through original cable television and radio programming.

First, please give to Access Sacramento on Tuesday, May 3 by going to bigdayofgiving.org and making a donation. Minimum giving is $25.

Second, promote Access Sacramento to everyone you know. Forward this message to your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers asking them to help support local public access cable television and radio programming created by our community members.

Third, Follow Access on Facebook and Twitter and share the mission of Access with your network. We have an exciting campaign underway and would love to have you join in the fun!

Whether you are giving $25, $500, $1,000 or promoting Access by forwarding this message on, we appreciate your ongoing support for Access. Thank you for your efforts, and we look forward to seeing you at our next Access Sacramento event.

Watch our LIVE TV coverage of the Big Day of giving on Access Sacramento Cable Channel 17 Tuesday May 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. Watch the Finale of the Access Sacramento Big Day of Giving Rally on LIVE TV Tuesday, May 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Access Sacramento can be seen on Comcast and Consolidated Communications channel 17, AT&T U-Verse Channel 14 and live streamed from AccessSacramento.org.

Access Sacramento is a 501(c3 non-profit foundation operating public access television channels 17 and 18 on Comcast and Consolidated Communications, and channel 14 on AT&T, with radio operations on cable and on KUBU-LP 96.5 FM from downtown Sacramento. For more information on Access Sacramento or the Big Day of Giving campaign call Gary Martin Executive Director (916) 456-8600. ext #100